Democratic California candidate Esther Kim Varet was asked to explain why her campaign website used a photo of a random black woman to tout an alleged endorsement from Democratic Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett.
Kim Varet, a former art dealer turned congressional candidate, has frequently levied racist attacks at Republicans during her campaign to unseat California Rep. Young Kim. Business Insider first reported Thursday that Kim Varet’s website used a photo of a black woman who is not Crockett to highlight the alleged endorsement. The campaign has since scrubbed the endorsement from its website, claiming that the picture was published by accident.
“Thanks for flagging this error on our site,” Kim Varet’s campaign replied to Business Insider senior politics reporter Bryan Metzger on X, over an hour after he had pointed out the picture. “A campaign team member accidentally published an incomplete update to the Endorsements page, and the RUN! CMS automatically uses that particular headshot image as the default placeholder for each endorsement block added until a custom image is uploaded.”
“Racist. Arrogant. Totally out of touch,” National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) spokesman spokesperson Christian Martinez wrote on X in response to the inaccurate photo. “Good thing @estherkimvaret’s hate-filled, bigoted self isn’t getting anywhere near Congress.”
A spokesperson for Kim Varet did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
Kim Varet, who is the daughter of Korean immigrants, has repeatedly referred to her opponent as a “Judas” to the Korean-American community and mocked the Republican congresswoman’s accent. Kim, the Republican incumbent, was born in South Korea and speaks English as a second language.
“I will be the first to admit that as a first time candidate, I’m sloppy,” Kim Varet wrote on the social media platform Instagram in August after facing backlash for calling the Republican incumbent a “power-hungry Korean-born immigrant” and mocking her English.
Crockett praised Kim Varet’s campaign in a May social media post, but it is unclear whether the Texas Democrat ever formally issued an endorsement.
“People are scared, frustrated, & downright mad about all that is being taken away from them, while some people are just rolling around golfing,” Crockett wrote on X in a reference to President Donald Trump. “People are struggling to afford the basics and others are getting additional jets… people then wonder what can they do! The answer is vote for REAL representation like @estherkimvaret! Show her some love & give her a follow!”
A spokesperson for Crockett did not respond to the DCNF’s inquiry regarding the alleged endorsement before publication.
Kim Varet is vying in a crowded Democratic primary to unseat Kim and ended the year’s third fundraising quarter with more than $1.2 million in the bank. Kim conversely has more than $4.7 million in cash on hand.
California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom’s gerrymander push has complicated Kim Varet’s run. The passage of Proposition 50 in November shored up Kim’s Orange County district with more Republican support to create additional Democratic-majority districts in the region.
Republican California Rep. Ken Calvert is running against Kim in the newly-configured 40th district — which retains Kim’s current district number but includes most of Calvert’s current territory — in what is expected to be a vicious primary between the two incumbents.
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